Bangai-O was a multi-directional shooter video game developed by Treasure. It was released for the Dreamcast in North America on March 21st, 2001.
The Dreamcast version defaults to the simpler but less flexible “AB” control configuration (one button to shoot in the direction of movement and one to shoot backwards) with the variable “ABXY” configuration (one button to shoot in each direction, with combinations of two buttons for diagonals) as the secondary scheme. The game’s documentation notes that the default scheme is inferior, and suggests changing it.
Bangai-O was originally conceived as a remake of an obscure 8-bit shooter, Hover Attack, first published as a type-in game for the Sharp X1 released in 1983. Eventually it evolved into an original property, but could be considered a spiritual sequel.
For more information on this game, check out the entry at Wikipedia here.
For more images, check out the entry at MobyGames here.
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-TheMaltyGamer
The Malty Gamer 